Thermoplastic Elastomers: Synthesis and Applications

Description

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), commonly known as thermoplastic rubbers, are a category of copolymers having thermoplastic and elastomeric characteristics. A TPE is a rubbery material with properties very close to those of conventional vulcanized rubber at normal conditions. It can be processed in a molten state even at elevated temperatures. TPEs show advantages typical of both rubbery materials and plastic materials. TPEs are a class of polymers bridging between the service properties of elastomers and the processing properties of thermoplastics. Nowadays, the best use of thermoplastics is in the field of biomedical applications, starting from artificial skin to many of the artificial human body parts. Apart from these, thermoplastic elastomers are being used for drug encapsulation purposes, and since they are biocompatible in many cases, their scope of applications has been broadened in the biotechnological field as well. The present book highlights many biological and biomedical applications of TPEs from which the broader area readers will benefit. Cover Half Title Thermoplastic Elastomers: Synthesis and Applications Copyright Contents Preface 1. Synthesis and Properties of Polyurethanes Based on Synthetic Polyhydroxybutyrate for Medical Application 1. Introduction 1.1. Polyurethanes in medicine 1.2. Polyurethanes biostatic and biocidic 1.3. Biodegradable polyurethanes 1.4. Polyurethanes that are more biocompatible 1.5. Biosynthesized polyhydroxybutyrate 1.6. Chemically synthesized poly([R,S]-3-hydroxybutyrate) 1.7. Marriage of PUR and PHB advantages in one product 2. Experimental 2.1. Materials 2.1.1. Materials for polyurethanes synthesis 2.1.2. Polyurethane synthesis and sample preparation 2.2. Methods of investigations, obtained results, and discussion 2.2.1. The structure of obtained polyurethanes 2.2.2. Thermal properties 2.2.3. Microscopic observation 2.2.4. Mechanical properties 2.2.5. Density 2.2.6. The oil and water sorption 2.2.7. Bacteriostatic properties 2.2.8. Hemocompatibility 2.2.9. Degradability 2.2.10. Electrospinning 3. Conclusion Author details References 2. Synthesis and Properties of Multiblock Terpoly(Ester-Aliphatic-Amide) and Terpoly(Ester-Ether-Amide) Thermoplastic Elastomers with Various Chemical Compositions of Ester Block 1. Introduction 2. Experimental part 2.1. Materials 2.2. Synthesis of oligoamide blocks 2.3. Synthesis of multiblock thermoplastic elastomers 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Properties of α,ω-dicarboxylic oligoamides 3.2. Properties of TPE 3.3. Chemical structure of TPEs 3.4. Mechanical properties 3.5. WAXS analysis 3.6. Thermal properties 4. Conclusion Author details References 3. Plasticization and Morphology Development in Dynamically Vulcanized Thermoplastic Elastomers 1. Introduction 2. Plasticization 3. Morphology development in simple nonreactive thermoplastic/elastomer blends 4. Morphology development in dynamically vulcanized nonplasticized and plasticized thermoplastic/elastomer blends 5. Concluding remarks Author details References 4. Environmental Degradability of Polyurethanes 1. Introduction 2. Experimental 2.1. Materials 2.2. Degradation environments 2.3. Measurements 2.3.1. Characterization of the compost pile under natural conditions 2.3.1.1. The humidity of compost 2.3.1.2. The pH of the compost 2.3.1.3. The biochemical activity of compost 2.3.2. Investigations of polyurethanes samples 2.3.2.1. The changes in the polymer surface 2.3.2.2. The changes of weight 2.3.2.3. The changes of tensile strength 2.3.2.4. The changes of thermal properties 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Characteristics of the degradation environments of polyurethanes samples 3.2. Evaluation of the changes of polyurethane samples during environmental degradation 4. Conclusions Author details References 5. Heat sensing Thermoplastic Elastomer Based on Polyolefins for Encapsulation Applications 1. Introduction 1.1. Compounding of TPE’s 1.1.1. Matrix 1.2. Filler 1.2.1. Accelerators 1.2.2. Flame retardants 1.2.3. Curatives 1.2.4. Plasticizers 2. General characteristics of elastomers 2.1. Cure characteristics 2.2. Abrasion resistance 2.3. Tear strength 2.4. Adhesion and bondability 2.5. Low temperature applications 3. Polyolefins (POEs) 3.1. Chemistry and manufacturing process 4. Thermoplastic Polyolefins (TPOs) blends 4.1. Heat sensing property of TP0’s based materials 4.2. Electrical property of TPO’s 5. Experimental 5.1. Heat shrinkability test 5.2. Effect of cure time on heat sensing property of TPO 5.3. Effect of flame retardant on shrinkability 6. Encapsulation applications 6.1. Application of encapsulated TPO’s 7. Conclusion Author details References 6. Thermoplastic Elastomers with Photo-actuating Properties 1. Introduction 2. Photo-actuation of chemically cross-linked elastomers 2.1. Liquid crystal elastomers 2.2. Other chemically cross-linked elastomers 3. Photo-actuation of thermoplastic elastomers 3.1. Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) 3.2. NAFION 3.3. Thermoplastic polyurethanes 3.4. Polystyrene-based block copolymers 3.5. Acrylic block copolymers 4. Methods for determination of photo-actuation behavior 4.1. Setups for measuring of photo-actuation performance 4.2. Preparation of samples for measuring of photo-actuation performance 5. Applicability of photo-actuating TPE materials 6. Conclusions Author details References 7. Thermoplastic Resins used in Dentistry 1. Introduction 2. Types of thermoplastic resins used in dentistry 2.1. Thermoplastic acetal 2.2. Thermoplastic polyamide (nylon) 2.3. Thermoplastic polyester 2.4. Thermoplastic acrylate 2.5. Presentation form and injection 3. Prosthetic devices made of thermoplastic resins 3.1. Removable partial dentures with acetal framework 3.2. Removable partial dentures made of different types of polyamides 3.3. Kemeny-type removable partial dentures made of acetal 3.4. Splints made of acetal resin 3.5. Mouth guards 3.6. Myofunctional therapy devices 4. Errors in manufacturing thermoplastic resins dentures 5. Conclusions Author details References